LOS ANGELES — With a crowd of several hundred expected on Saturday, January 12 to salute the champions of the 2012 SCORE Desert Series, original SCORE CEO President Sal Fish and new SCORE owner Roger Norman, tickets are still available for the 2012 SCORE Awards Night, honoring the world’s foremost desert racing series.  Back in Southern California for the third consecutive year the event will be held Saturday, Jan. 12 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa in Newport Beach, Calif.

At the lavish Hyatt Regency, located in the heart of Orange Country near Balboa Island, nearly 400 SCORE racers, family, friends, crews, sponsors and media will bask in the Southern California sunshine as the SCORE Awards Night will honor the 39-year history and fame of the name which is the standard for desert racing worldwide. Among the many highlights of the festive evening will be the ‘passing of the torch’ from the legendary Fish to businessman Norman, the racer-turned-owner as the legacy of SCORE embarks on a new journey as the preeminent desert racing organization in the world.

This year will mark the first time that the annual SCORE Awards Night has been held at the posh Hyatt Regency and the fourth time the historic evening has been held in Southern California since 2000, when it was held at Joe’s Garage automotive museum in Tustin, Calif. It was held in Irvine, Calif., the last two years.

A pre-awards reception will start the festivities at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner, a special tribute to the 2012 SCORE season and presentations at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be obtained by calling the original SCORE office at 818.225.8402 or through the online form at the link below.

http://score-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Banquet-Ticket-Order-Form.pdf

“This evening is always special as we pay tribute to the world’s greatest desert racers, manufacturers and aftermarket companies, but this year will be a bit different,” said Fish, the SCORE CEO/President who was part of the desert racing organization for nearly four decades. “In addition to celebrating the 2012 SCORE Desert Series, we will officially introduce Roger Norman as the new owner of SCORE International and hear his plans for the future.”

In addition to several SCORE Achievement Awards and the 36 Pro, 6 Sportsman class champions and three overall point champions who will be honored at the Hyatt Regency, another major part of the evening will be the presentation of the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman Awards.

Individuals as well as manufacturers and organizations are honored through 11 distinct awards, whose winners are decided by several thousand SCORE fans through online voting including the entire SCORE membership of more than 2,000. Among the awards to be presented are MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the year, SCORE Contingency Company of the year, SCORE Pit Support Team of the year, SCORE Mechanic of the year and SCORE Person of the year.

Another element of the diverse program will be the presentation of the SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards.  As it has for 27 years, the coveted Toyota Milestone Awards are presented to those drivers in four-wheel vehicle classes who finish every required mile of the 2012 SCORE Desert Series. A total of 16 racers completed all 1,920.21 required miles in the five-race 2012 SCORE Desert Series.

The evening will include a colorful video/photographic tribute to the 2012 SCORE Desert Series produced by Blue C Advertising, as well as featuring the still photography of Trackside Photo and several other prominent desert racing photographers.

Individual ticket reservations as well as reservations for tables of 10, priced at $850 per table, are being accepted through the SCORE offices at 818.225.8402. Individual tickets are $85 each.

Emcees for the evening with be prominent SCORE Trophy Truck racer and TV action sports commentator Cameron Steele and Jim Riley, a desert racer who is also CEO of Azunia Tequila, the company that has produced the new Sal Fish signature SCORE Baja 1000 tequila.

Introducing Fish and Norman for the closing ‘passing of the torch’ will be industry public relations executive Marty Fiolka and champion desert racer Ivan Stewart.

SCORE SPONSORS
Tecate Beer is the title sponsor of the three SCORE Baja races.

MasterCraft Safety is co-title sponsor of the MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.

Official Sponsors of the 45th SCORE Baja 1000 and the SCORE Desert Series are:
-Tecate Beer, Official Beer
-BFGoodrich Tires, Official Tire
-Graham Watchmakers, Official Timekeeper
-Red Bull, Official Energy Drink
-Volkswagen of America, Official Vehicle
-Sunoco Race Fuels, Official Race Fuel
-Coca-Cola, Official Soft Drink
-Slime, Official Tire Sealant
-Symons Ambulance Company, Official Ambulance
-Bullet Liner, Official Spray-On Bedliner
-SatellitePhoneStore.com-Official Satellite Phone Rental Company
-Volaris Airlines, Official Airline
-Fox Car Rental, Official Rent-A-Car
-Lightforce Performance Lighting, Official Driving Light
-Maxtrax, Official Vehicle Recovery Device
-Azunia Tequila, Official Tequila
-Bilstein, Official Shock Absorber
-Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Official Mexican Auto Insurance

Additional SCORE Sponsors are – Baja California Sur Tourism, Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Blue C Advertising, SignPros, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.